Today I tried out a QR reading task with my year 10 German group. They had been told beforehand to download a free QR reader to their phone. I created 5 texts describing holidays in German and QR coded 20 questions to go with them. I used classtools.net. to create the codes as students can get the information offline, so there are not issues with credit on their phone. For most, this was their first experience with QR codes so if nothing else, they now know how to access QR coded data. I scattered the QR codes around the room, some more hidden than others, and students worked in groups to scan the codes, collect the questions and use thetexts to answer. The whole activity took about 20 minutes with students picking out key information from 5 quite challenging texts which they probably would have found daunting had I just given them a traditional worksheet. The student feedback was really positive and they were engaged throughout. I gave a prize to the fastest team but was really pleased to see that all students worked together to produce the right answers. The full German task is here to download.

Today my class had the pleasure of two Mrs Whiteheads in the room. I recorded my introduction using an app called explaineverything. It's really easy to use and allows you to save to movie roll. It was interesting to be able to prepare the next task and watch the students whilst the 'other me' introduced the new vocabulary. I had to chuckle when asked "Is this you miss or is it from YouTube?"

In order to help students understand how to progress in Key Stage 3, I have created a levels bookmark for exercise books. One side offers the level descriptors and the reverse has vital vocabulary to support students in class and at home. DOWNLOAD Spanish bookmarkDOWNLOAD French bookmarkThanks to Frederique Lane for translating into French!

www.jigsawplanet.comallows you to create online jigsaws from any image. Free and easy to use, you can then share the link or embed into a webpage. This has a number of potential uses but would make an excellent homework task. In hisblog, Richard Byrne (@rmbyrne) suggests importing wordles. This would work really well for languages but I have been playing around with other options too. Players can opt to look at the completed image at anytime with the tap in the bottom left corner. There are a number of different piece shapes available also and you can alter the difficulty when creating. If you connect two pieces together correctly, they stay together. I have made some examples below.

Suggestion 1 - wordles etc with key words are a good idea but you could also input word swirls, waves or love hearts created onfestisite.

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Suggestion 2 - like the example I made above, you could label images. I made this one by labelling up the pictures with text boxes in power point and then opted to save the power point as a JPEG rather than a show. It was still a little large, so I cropped the image before using.

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Suggestion 3 - You could input questions and answers or an example piece of writing like for a controlled assessment. EXAMPLE

Suggestion 4 - For a more traditional jigsaw, you could make hard copies as an in-class challenge. Print screen, stick onto card and cut up.

I was trying to think of a way to get students to focus on spelling whilst they revise basic vocabulary and so here is word race. A board game for 2-4 players designed to get students speaking and practising pronunciation but also thinking about spelling. Each group will need:* a game board* one die* counters* something to write on - scrap paper or mini whiteboard

Each number rolled is linked to a category such as numbers or colours. Whichever number a player rolls, they must produce a TL word linked to that category. For example, they may roll colours and choose azul (blue). The player gets to move the same number of squares as the length of their chosen word. The longer the word, the further they go. If the player lands on one of the spots telling them to have another go, then they must repeat the process but this does mean a new roll and thinking of a new word! All words should be noted down during the game so the other players can check spelling and see that the number of moves is correct. The record is also important as repetition of words is not allowed. I have made a board for Spanish and German. DOWNLOAD SPANISH BOARDDOWNLOAD GERMAN BOARD basicsDOWNLOAD GERMAN BOARD Holidaysand thanks to Isabelle Rodriguez (@crepeaunutella) for translating FRENCH BOARD DOWNLOAD

Decide now for the iPad is a useful way to enter categories, vocabulary or questions. You then spin the wheel and see where it lands. The app is very easy to use and inputting the information takes no time at all. The app stores each set so you can prepare a few beforehand. This has many potential uses for the classroom and here are my suggestions so far.

Fastest finger firstI have two service bells in my classroom (I got them from the game Yes! No! which is relatively cheap). Input 12 items of vocab from the lesson into decide now. One player from each team comes to the front and has a bell. Spin the wheel, first to ding and translate when it stops wins a point. TelepathyAll students choose one of the vocab items, write it on a scrap of paper and stand behind their desk. Spin the wheel and any who have the same as the wheel remain standing. The students still standing choose again. Repeat the process until you have a winner. Choose a cardCreate a set of flashcards to match the vocab on decide now and pin these around the room. Students choose which card to stand near and you spin the wheel. If the word they have chosen appears, then they are out. Running orderFor a different take on a carousel lesson where you have 5 or 6 tasks prepared for the lesson, you could enter the tasks on decide now! and spin the determine the order students work through them. Dictionary raceTo introduce new vocabulary, you could enter the new words on decide now!, spin the wheel and students have to race to find the meaning in the dictionary. The first to hold the meaning up on their whiteboard wins a point. The wheel may well land on a word which has already been looked up, so the first to shout out/re-write the meaning wins a point and so allowing for re-enforcement. PictionaryWe play pictionary a lot in class with students competing to draw the item fastest on their mini whiteboard. I'm don't, however, always prepare the items well beforehand and so a spin on decide now! could determine what they have to draw. Talk for a minuteThanks to Amanda salt (@amandasalt) for this suggestion. Enter topic areas and students have to talk for a minute on the topic chosen. StripbingoStrip bingo was suggested by someone on the TES collection of MFL games but apologies as I do not know their name. The idea of strip bingo is that students have 5 boxes in a line and fill each with an item of vocab. They have to tear off each box from the outside working inwards as the items get called. The winner is the person who gets their final box called first. This is more effective than normal bingo as it means the vocab has to be called more than once (a player might have a word on the outside and tear it off immediately but another player may not need the same word until their last square). Decide now! would be a good way to select the vocabulary.

QR codes can look a bit out of place on posters but you can now use visual lead to embed them into an image of your choice. The basic package is free to use. You create a QR code for the stimulus you want such as a youtube video, select your image and place the QR code within it. You can then add that image to the poster or worksheet for others to scan. Easy!

Spoons is a card game where the objective is to be the first to collect four cards of the same rank or if an opponent beats you to it, to not be the last one to grab a spoon. You will need to create sets of 4 cards for each player. For MFL the set could contain an image, the word in TL, the word in English and the word used in an example sentence.

There must be an equal set of cards to match the numbers of players and 4 cards should be distributed to players at random. The players also need a spoon each in the middle of the table. Players simultaneously choose one card from their hand, pass that card to the player on their left, and take the card passed from the player on their right. Each player must not have have more than four cards in their hand. Once a player has collected a full set, they must take a spoon as subtly as they can and place it in front of themselves. Once a spoon has been taken by the player with a set, then the others must grab a spoon too. The last to take a spoon is out. The original spoon taker replaces his full set with the loser's hand. So the game continues. As the final two players are joint winners, this game works best with a larger number of students than we would normally use for group work. Here is an example set of cards for year 7 vital verbs. DOWNLOAD

Using the foldify app I have made some sentence building dice. The idea is that students role one of the phrases such as quiero, then role an infinitive. It is then up to the individual to add the extra information. Quiero comer una hamburguesaThese could form the sentences for a written piece or for speaking work, other members of the group could translate the sentence. Starting sentence DOWNLOADInfinitives DOWNLOADSmaller version - three to a page DOWNLOADFoldify does not offer text boxes so I put the sentences individually into quipio, saved to library and the inputted these into foldify. You can resize and change the direction of the text image to fit each side.

Karen Whitehead

I have been teaching languages for 13 years. I enjoy finding and developing new ways to engage students with their learning. This page is designed for sharing anything and everything that may be of use to others. Enjoy!